Box Break: 1 Box of 2018-19 Noir Basketball FOTL

 

I swore I was going to pass on this, as I already have two regular boxes of Noir coming in, but..I'm weeeeeeak and gave in and bought a FOTL version. The bonus here is a metal framed card numbered to 9. Unlike most FOTL products where the exclusive replaces as card, the exclusive here is an ADDITIONAL card, which is much better to me. This stuff is damn pricey ($500 a box) but I've actually tried Noir every year since I've been collecting. I've done pretty could as every year as yielded something awesome (Giannis Auto in 16, Kobe Patch/Auto in 17, and Giannis Spotlight Auto in 18). Let's see if I made a mistake and should've trusted my gut or if I made a great decision.

Base Cards

Association Edition
Buddy Hield (#26/85)
Josh Okogie RC (#1/85)


Icon Edition
Kemba Walker (#68/85)


Two Shot Rookie Jerseys
Zhaire Smith/Landry Shamet (#21/99)


New Wave Jerseys
DeAndre Ayton (#61/99)


Dish Night Prime Patch
Kyle Lowry (#6/10)

Shadow Sigs
Jordan Bell (#88/99)

Rookie Autographs
Allonzo Trier (#36/99)


Reigning Nights Holo Gold
Rashard Lewis (#8/10)

Auto Noir Color
LaMarcus Aldridge Redemption


Gold Metal Frame Exclusive
Mikal Bridges (#8/9)

Overall Thoughts: And just like that...this break DESTROYS any kind of goodwill I had from last weekend. This was straight up GARBAGE and a candidate for absolute worst break of the year. This was SUPER terrible..nothing worth a crap. I shudder to think what my REGULAR boxes of this stuff will look like. Total disappointment

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2019

#1 2018-19 Optic Basketball Signature Series Gold Trae Young (#1/10)

#2 2018-19 Optic Basketball Lebron James Purple Stars FOTL Exclusive Parallel (#5/13)

#3 2018-19 Prizm Basketball Robert Williams III Black Gold Prizm RC (#3/5)

#4 2019 Bowman Mega Box Autographs Wander Franco

#5 2018 Prizm White Sparkle Saquon Barkley RC

May Maildays

Once again, May was a quality over quantity type of month. I only added 5 cards, but I'd like to think they're pretty solid. Here's what I got in May

2001 Upper Deck Albert Pujols RC BGS 9.5

 

Easily the "weakest" purchase of the month, I didn't have a Pujols rookie card and I felt like adding one and this one didn't break the bank. I really love the action shot and it's just a simple looking card. Maybe down the road and I'll add a higher end Pujols, but for now, this will do.

1998-99 Bowman's Best Dirk Nowitzki Refractor RC (PSA 9) (#6/400)

 

So I picked up my Dirk holy grail last month, but if I can find some of Dirk's other nice rookies, I'll jump on them and this is one of them. I feel like this rookie is SUPER underrated. I paid less than 1/5th of what I paid for the Dirk Chrome Refractor and this is a serial numbered rookie refractor. Numbered to only 400 copies, it's a really nice alternative to the Dirk Topps Chrome. I honestly wouldn't mind a Dirk Finest Refractor as well.

2011-12 SP Authentic Autographs Kawhi Leonard

 

So Kawhi is showing everyone who forgot just how damn good he is as he has basically carried the Raptors on his back to the NBA Finals. I surprisingly didn't own a Kawhi auto and I chose this one for a couple reasons. It's a "pre rookie card" of sorts as this card was released a year before Kawhi's NBA rookies were and it's one of Kawhi's only Upper Deck autos. It's on card as well. 

2013-14 Elite Rookie Essentials Giannis Antetokounmpo Auto/Jersey RC (#61/299)

 

So the Giannis hype train has slowed down significantly after a pretty disappointing Conference Finals. You gotta remember though, the guy is still young (24) and has plenty of prime years left. It didn't deter me from picking up an auto rookie of him. The ironic thing? When I first got back into the Hobby in 2016, Boxes of 13-14 Elite couldn't be given away from the most part. Blowout had a "blowout" themselves of these boxes for like $30 a pop, I believe I bought 8 of them. Didn't pull one Giannis, but it's crazy to see what a difference a couple of years make. This is a sticker auto, but it's still a really nice looking card. Giannis should still be voted MVP this season, and hopefully when it's all said and done, it will be the first of many in his promising career.

and here's my favorite add of the month

2012-13 Elite Passing The Torch Autographs Larry Bird/Dirk Nowitzki (BGS 9.5) (#7/25)

 

I've been thrilled to add some really nice Dirk's these past two months. This card is amazing. First of all, I had no idea this card existed. I just happened to be browsing Ebay and came across it. I knew it was going to be mine when I saw it. The big reason I wanted this card so bad is I know how much Larry Bird meant to Dirk. Bird was one of Dirk's biggest influence in the game of basketball and I found that out watching his retirement ceremony where he talked about how much he respected Larry Bird. Larry Bird was even a surprise guest at Dirk's ceremony and it was such an awesome moment to see all of Dirk's Idols including Larry Legend be there to pay their respects. So this card was a no brainer to add and I was thankful I put up enough of a bid to win it. Yes it's a sticker auto (and I have zero clue why the auto got a 9) but it's still an amazing card of two of the greatest to play the game. I'm a sucker for multi-autos, especially of Hall of Famers and I was very excited to add this to my collection.